At what age did you give your baby cereal?

Sherry - posted on 06/12/2009

My daughter turns five months today and our ped. had us start her on rice cereal a couple of weeks ago. I'm going to keep her just on the rice until she is 6 months, as that's the new recommended age for solids. She gets about a tsp and a bit in the am after I nurse her and 2 or more tsps (and nursing) before bed. I was told it would get her to start sleeping through the night again...no such luck!

Chona - posted on 06/12/2009

I have a Homemade Whole Grain Cereal recipe. If your baby is at least 6 months old, I recommend homemade whole grain brown rice or millet cereal as baby's first food. These cereals are easily digested but your baby must be at least 6 months old before she has the necessary digestive enzymes to handle the complex carbohydrates in the cereals.
First measrue a cup of water on the stove to boil. whiel the water is heating to a boil, measure 1/4cup of brown rice into your blender, Grind it very well, for about 2 minutes, YOur blender makes a lot of noise and its hard to stand there listening to that motor go for so long but please wait for the full 2 minutes, When the cup of water starts to boil on the stove, turn the heat down to the lowest setting. Sprinkle the ground rice into the water while stirring briskly with a wire whisk. Cover the pot and keep it over low heat for about 10 min. Stir frequently to prevent scorching.If its too thick , thin it by simply mixing in a little breast milk. After letting the cereal cook over low heat for 10 min, its ready.Cover, it will keep in the refrigerator for 2-3 days. good luck-

Kelley - posted on 06/12/2009

My daughter just turned 4 months old this week and we just started her on cereal. She has been getting some small amounts of cereal in her bottles since two weeks of age (due to severe acid reflux - helped thicken formula up for her). We feed it with a spoon and she's doing great! Just once a day right now - usually around dinnertime. We mix a little cereal w/formula from her bottle (but mixing w/water is fine, too). Keeps her filled up, which is great! We're soon going to start a feeding in the mornings as well. There might not be any nutritional value of cereal, but I think it's needed to help babies start to adjust to other foods. Not so much to get her used to a spoon...that just sort of happens. You need to start with something very bland to make sure allergies aren't present. Start with rice cereal, move to oatmeal once you know she's good with rice, then multigrain cereal. If she gets through all of these w/out any allergic reactions then you are probably pretty safe to move onto veggies (start w/the orange one's first!) and then fruits. This is exactly how we did feeding with my son, who is now 4.5, and he loves all foods...not picky at all! No allergies either.

Rachel - posted on 06/11/2009

How do you prepare oatmeal for babies? I would MUCH rather give her oatmeal than rice cereal--I'm sure it's much better for babies.

Erica - posted on 06/11/2009

i startedmy son on oatmeal and rice cereal about 3 weeks ago when he was 35.months old, i usualy keep them on for about 2 months so he is not bombarded with all the food at once, then around 6 months i will do veggies and i do them longer then recommened i do that for about a week at least each, dont give banana b/c sh can get constapated i had a couple of friends do that and thats what happened

Rachel - posted on 06/11/2009

Thanks, everyone! I think I'll hold off a while longer and just continue to let her familiarize herself with the spoon. Maybe in a couple weeks when she is close to 5 months I will see how she does with a few little bites of cereal--or just go to ripe banana or avocado. I'm a little nervous about banana, 'cause she seems to take after my husband in a lot of ways, and bananas make his throat itch.

Chona - posted on 06/11/2009

I completely agree with Rebecca Kavan.

Chona - posted on 06/11/2009

Mashed ripe banana is an excellent first food for baby. I just gave my 5month old daughter avocado mixed with breast milk, I also have given her frozen breast milk in one of those mesh feeders, she loved it. She also has tried ripe mashed banana, I am waiting until she is 6 mo to give her homemade rice cereal. Good luck and try not to rush into solids.

Amber - posted on 06/11/2009

I started at 4 months

Meghan - posted on 06/10/2009

We didnt introduce cereal until 5 and 1/2 months either...but did start with the avacado and apple/banana puree just before 5 months as she was sitting unsupported and showed increasing interest.

Alaina - posted on 06/10/2009

I waited until 5 and 1/2 months to start cereal even though my daughter started to show interest around 4 months as yours is. I would give it a try, very thin, just to let her try and if she likes it do cereal for a few months, but instead of in the morning try at night when you and your husband eat dinner. Your breastmilk supply is the lowest in the evening.

Monique - posted on 06/10/2009

I started both f my children on cereal at 4 months. Mostly because I felt that the milk was not keeping them full. I spoon feed the cereal in the morning before breastfeeding. Trust me you will get more out of your morning this way. The cereal feeding I only do in the morning you can also try some organic baby fruit. Try not to use the cereal instead of milk but as an extra.

Rachel - posted on 06/10/2009

I agree; if I did it, it would primarily be to get her used to the spoon; our ped said the only reason they even suggest rice cereal is because most of the professionals agree it is the thing that is least likely to cause an allergic reaction, so he said to just use it as a training tool before introducing other foods.

Rebecca - posted on 06/10/2009

Cereal is actually pretty worthless nutritionally. It's totally stripped of its nutrients and then they add artificial ones back in. I always started with mashed avocado or banana, usually little tastes around 5 months but didn't do too much until 6 months. If she's showing interest, you can give her some but just remember that it would be only for experience. Babies love squishing mushy stuff in their fingers! Don't expect her to be getting any of her caloric needs met from it for months :)